A Deadly Encounter
by a13815
Summary: In the arena, no one is safe. Nothing is guaranteed. Micah, a brash young tribute from District 5, finds this out the hard way.  Story features Katniss, Gale and Rue.


**A DEADLY ENCOUNTER**

**Type** - Single chapter. Short Story

**Protagonist - **Micah (a character I've made up. He comes from District 5)

**Featured Book Characters - **Katniss, Gale and Rue

****Setting** - **Arena

**VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION** - This is an alternate scenario in which Gale was selected for the Hunger Games instead of Peeta. **Additionally** - NONE of the tributes apart from Katniss, Gale and Rue are the same as the book. They are all completely new and made up by me.

Enjoy =)

And please R&R!

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><p><strong><span>A Deadly Encounter<span>  
><strong>

**There are no guarantees in the arena...**

It was Micah's shift to keep watch, so he emerged from the heated tent and went to sit outside by the campfire. He carried a pair of binoculars and a canteen of pre-filtered water. His weapon was a long sharpened knife strapped to his waist. His allies, Shannon and Derek, remained inside the tent and Micah zipped it closed behind him as he stepped out into the night.

Blood seemed to be the theme of the games at the moment. Everything was coated in it. Earlier in the day the sky was blazing bright blue with a hint of red. Now it was night and the familiar dark had returned, but with a hue of murky crimson. Maybe it was a sign that the audience was getting restless and wanted to see some action, one more thrilling kill before the tributes would be allowed to close their eyes and ease themselves into haunted dreams.

Micah spat sourly at the thought. Hadn't they done enough killing for one day? He himself had already made quite a stir. He'd slaughtered a female tribute earlier. Her name was Julia and she was a pale timid girl from District 8. She had been defenseless, not looking to fight, but Micah had still finished her. He'd still thrust the end of his blade into her gut and stood there watching while she convulsed. Now, in the firelight, her dried blood seemed to be glowing on his hands. In the deepest corners of his mind he could still hear her faint screams. He remembered watching her struggle all the way through until the end. Until her soul disappeared.

It was a sick gesture, but he wanted to make his mark to the other tributes. Maybe now they'd fear him. He knew his father would be viewing the games back at home in District 4. Micah's murderous episode would most likely come as a shock. In fact it would probably shock everyone watching back in his district. They all thought him to be the kindly and shy sort. Only Micah himself knew that was a farce. He'd only kept quiet to mask his anger. In reality he was angry all the time, and being selected for the games fueled his anger even further. And so it was to be the fate of Julia to suffer the first pains of his unbridled wrath.

Micah pulled his knife out and let it rest on the solid ground. It was the very knife he'd used on her. He looked at it affectionately. It was growing on him, becoming a part of who he was and giving him comfort. He thought he could get used to killing. He certainly had no regrets about it. For it was his act of cold blooded murder that won him favor with Shannon and Derek in the first place. They'd been up close to witness it carried out. As a result, they offered him a chance to ally with them. Shannon and Derek were both top tributes from District 2, fully stocked after snagging a good spill of supplies from the initial cornucopia run. And most importantly, they were deadly.

He was confident the three of them together would make a formidable team and, if he could figure out how to double cross them at some point, maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all. It was this thought that made him smile to himself, alone in the silent night.

Then something stirred.

It was a rustling noise coming from a tree in the nearby woods. Micah snapped out of his thoughts and his body tensed. Was someone there? He focused in the direction of the noise but saw nothing. He remained alert but did not panic. Though the chances of intruders were high, he didn't think anyone would be foolish enough to attack his group.

He'd heard about a roaming team that was rumored to be "tough to kill." It was supposedly Katniss, Gale and Rue; tributes from the poorer districts. But he didn't consider them to be a real threat, not based on their individual poor performance in the practice sessions. They were amateurs.

Micah kept his gaze upwards towards the tree branches where he sensed the commotion had occurred. Then, something caught his eye. It was the uneven movement of a branch. A moment later the small figure of a girl flashed into view before quickly disappearing.

"INTRUDERS!" Micah screamed.

He sprang up to get his teammates, but before he could reach the tent, a boy jumped out in front of him, right in the middle of the site. It was Gale, from District 12, and he looked absolutely deranged. Gale let out a ridiculous yell and then, with a bucket of water that he was carrying, he doused the campfire flames. Things got darker.

Instinctively, Micah grabbed his knife and took a stab at Gale in the dark, but he missed. Gale was scrambling around in frantic circles, dodging evasively. Shannon and Derek popped out of the tent and moved with lethal speed towards Gale. Derek was wielding a jagged axe and Shannon gripped her trusty dagger. Gale turned quickly and dashed away. Together, Micah and his crew chased after him.

It took little effort to pick up pace and close in on the distance. There was no doubt that they'd catch up shortly, and with Shannon and Derek on him, Gale would be dead in a matter of seconds. But all of a sudden Micah heard something zip hard through the air. Instantly Derek stumbled from his stride and toppled to his stomach. The tail end of an arrow stuck out of his back. Then, out of nowhere, a second arrow whizzed past Micah and connected with Shannon. She grunted before collapsing onto the ground.

Micah was startled to realize that it was just him now giving chase. Suddenly, Gale stopped his run and turned. Micah's forehead crashed into Gale's extended forearm and he was knocked to the ground. His knife clattered out of his grasp and out of reach. His head was ringing from the contact and he was now lying helplessly on the bare earth. He was completely at Gale's mercy. Gale stomped down hard on Micah's leg and a sharp pain shot through him.

Micah looked up at him and pleaded desperately. "Please," he said. It was all he could think do. "Don't kill me."

But Gale wasn't listening. His attention had shifted back to the camp site. Dizzily, Micah rolled over on his side to try and see what Gale was looking at. He could identify a tiny little girl coming quickly towards them. It looked like Rue, the girl from District 11. She was carrying Derek and Shannon's bag of supplies from the tent. The bag was big and bulky and she struggled with it. She must have swiped it during the fight. She also clutched Micah's binoculars in her palm.

Once Rue was in range of Gale, she spoke. "I've got everything. Let's go," she said. "Katniss is already heading back and the other tributes will be here soon."

Gale nodded and then he took one last look down at Micah. The craziness had left his eyes. He now held a solemn expression; saddened, even. He left Micah lying there and walked over towards Rue. When he got to her, he took the bag of supplies from her shoulder and carried them himself. Then the two of them retreated hastily back into the forest together. Micah watched as they blended sleekly into the shadows.

Silence returned. Micah rolled onto his back and stared up into the stars.

He noticed that the crimson had gone out of the sky.


End file.
